Auditory, Frontoparietal, and Somatomotor Networks Encode the Direction of Auditory Motion

Directions of auditory motion can be represented by multivariate activation patterns using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, whether functional connectivity (FC) patterns across brain regions encode auditory motion directions remains unclear. In the present study, we hypothesize that FC patterns across auditory, frontoparietal, and somatomotor networks could represent directions of auditory motion. We obtained FC patterns across the three networks while healthy participants passively listened to a sound moving horizontally. Multivariate connectivity pattern classification was carried out based on the direction of motion. Result showed that FC patterns across three networks encoded the direction of moving sound. Furthermore, we identified the FCs and brain regions contributing most to the coding of auditory motion direction. In sum, our result demonstrated that FC patterns across auditory, frontoparietal, and somatomotor networks encoded the direction of auditory motion.